Marie felt her heart beating wildly in her breast when she saw Logan standing at the mansion's door. He looked different than she remembered; more distant, more angry, and if possible, more alone.
"What are you doing here?" he asked gruffly.
"I came to see the Professor. I have to talk to him about something," Marie replied. "Are you going to let me in or not?"
Logan moved away from the door and turned his back to her, "Do whatever you want."
"Logan, I…" she began, but he kept walking away from her.
Marie bit her lip and moved to the part of the mansion that housed the Professor's office. It hurt her that Logan was so cold to her. Usually he would have noticed the dark glasses, the long sleeved blouses, but he didn't even seem to care. He just seemed... he seemed like the walking dead.
Marie knocked on the Professor's door, her heart beating with a great deal of trepidation.
"Come in, Rogue," the Professor called from inside the office.
Marie opened the door and entered. "Good morning, Professor," she greeted. "Do you have a minute?"
"I most certainly do. What can I help you with this…Rogue, what happened to your eye?"
Marie realized then that in that second she had taken her sunglasses off when she had let her guard down when she entered the safety of the mansion.
"I slipped the other day and hit it on the table," she hastily lied. Marie knew that the Professor could use his power to see what was going on inside her mind, to reveal if she was telling the truth. She also knew he would never do that.
"You should be more careful," he suggested raising one eyebrow.
"I'll try," she shyly smiled.
"So what brings you here? Is there a problem with your works schedule?" Professor X asked.
"Um, yeah, actually, there is. Cliff and I were talking about it and well, he thinks that it would be better if I stopped working here at the mansion. He wants me to stay home," Marie informed him. Then for good measure she added, "I want to stay home."
The Professor sighed, "Well, we'll certainly miss you around here. If you ever change your mind, you know you'll always have a job here waiting for you. I must admit, I've seen this coming for some time."
"You have?" Marie asked in shock.
"Yes. I noticed your attendance had been erratic; you've only been in twice in the last two weeks. Ororo or Jean has been covering your classes. I know that Logan…"
"This has nothing to do with Logan," Marie cut the Professor off.
"Doesn't it in some way?" the Professor asked.
"Professor, Logan and I were friends. This has nothing to do with him and everything to do with Cliff not wanting me to spend so much time at the mansion. That's all it has to do with."
The Professor nodded, "Marie, you do know that you are still very much your own person even though you've married?"
Marie sighed. He sounded like Lois and Mary Jane. "Cliff and I talked this over together. We decided together that it would be best for us…" She trailed off. "It might help things a lot."
That one sentence summed it all up. The fledgling marriage was in trouble. Marie, to the best of the Professor knowledge was bearing the marks of that trouble. He only hoped this would be an isolated incident on Cliff's part, the anger of a first fight carried out and expressed in an inappropriate manner. If not, well, his vow not to enter into the personal lives of his X-men would be headed straight out the window. He would protect this girl; he would make certain she was not headed down a dangerous and lonely path.
"I understand, Marie," the Professor told her. "If you ever want to talk or visit, all you have to do is call or just stop by. We'll be here."
Marie rose from her seat and nodded. Fighting tears, she spoke, "Professor, tell everyone I said bye okay? And tell Jean to let me know when the baby comes."
"I'm sure we'll be seeing you before then, but I'll tell her," the Professor assured. Marie turned to leave and stopped as her hand touched the doorknob. "Professor, Logan…I saw him today and he's…"
"Logan made a lot of mistakes in his life Marie," Professor Xavier told her. "And he thinks his biggest one was leaving you here two years ago."
"He was so cold to me. He didn't even talk to me," Marie confided.
The Professor sadly nodded, "He hardly talks to anyone anymore, Rogue. It's a hard thing to live with, what he has."
What he has? That didn't make any sense. What did Logan have? He healed. He didn't get hurt or sick of anything. He was always fine. He would be knocked down, but he always got up again.
"What do you mean? Logan can't get sick?" Marie asked, demanding clarification.
"I mean, there is no ability that heals a broken heart," the Professor replied. "Deep down he wants you to be happy, but…he's very sad at his own loss. You understand, Rogue. You felt that way once yourself."
She had, when Logan had first left and had written to Jean and not to her. She knew the only thing that got you over that was time, and in some cases, like hers, you never got over that.
"I'm sorry that I…"
"Ssh," the Professor shushed her. "Don't apologize. You followed your heart. Keep doing that. It's wiser than the head."
"Thank you, Professor," Marie said. She then left the mansion to head for home.
Marie did not go home. She drove and drove for a long time. She had to thing, to clear her head. Before she knew it, it was past six and Cliff would be coming home. IF he got home before she did, he would be angry, really angry. With trepidation and fear, Marie hit the gas pedal.
Cliff arrived home from the office early that day. His late night meeting had been cancelled so he'd headed for home and a warm meal earlier than he'd expected. Marie might not even have the meal finished yet. That would be all right, though, as long as it was on its way. That is after all why he married her.
It was 5:05 pm when Cliff opened the door to his Westchester home and called out, "Marie! Marie! I'm home."
There was not answer at all, just the silence of the empty house. "Damn that witch!" he swore under his breath. "I bet she went with those…" Cliff stalked to the phone and dialed the mansion's number.
"Xavier's School," the gruff voice on the other end answered. Cliff recognized it as Logan's voice. He'd need to tread carefully; this Logan had a hot temper.
"Hello, this is Cliff Welmont, Marie's husband," he began. Logan cut him off.
"I know who you are. What do you want?" he asked.
"I was wondering if Marie had been there today." Cliff asked, "She's not home now."
Logan wasn't sure why, but his "Marie alarm" was shooting off in his head. It hadn't since the day of her wedding, since the day she chose this man over him. He answered carefully, "I only saw her this morning. She left before noon," he replied.
Cliff felt the anger stirring in his breast, but he bit it down. He didn't want this man interfering with his life or with the manner in which he handled his wife. He had to play it cool. "Okay, thank you," Cliff responded. Anger would not be a safe response.
Cliff hung up quickly and dialed the Parker's phone number. There was no answer there so he quickly tried the Kents.
"Clark Kent." Clark's clear voice came over the phone.
"Hello, Clark. It's Cliff. By any chance, would Lois have seen Marie today?" Cliff asked.
"Um, I don't know. Hold on, let me grab her and ask her?"
Cliff heard Clark put the phone down and say something to Lois. A minute later, she got on the phone. "Hi, Cliff. No, I didn't see Marie today at all. I saw her yesterday and she mentioned going to the mansion to get her affairs in order since apparently she's quitting her job there."
"I talked to them, she left before noon. So they say," Cliff replied.
"If I hear from her, I'll let you know. She's probably just out, Cliff," Lois explained. "Women do do that…" "If she isn't home in a few hours, call us back, okay? I'll help you look."
Cliff thanked Clark and hung up. He sat down on the sofa, wracking his brain as to where Marie could be. He'd get an answer when she arrived home again, by God he would.
Marie didn't get home until nearly 6:30 pm. She was Cliff's car in the drive way and felt instantly worried. He was going to be so mad.
"I'm so sorry, Cliff," she began, apologizing before he started yelling at her.
"Where have you been? The mansion?" His eyes were menacing as he asked that question.
"No, you told me I couldn't go back there," she lied without thinking.
Cliff's fist made contact with her cheek, "Liar! I called and your boyfriend told me you were there this morning."
Marie tried to get up from the floor, "I went, but only tell…" She finished the line on a scream as he slapped her again.
"Who is it? Is it Logan? Is he the man you've been meeting?" Cliff accused, shoving her up against the wall. "Is that why I can't get a child out of you? Are you taking something to keep from getting one with him?"
"No," Marie sobbed. "No. I didn't betray you."
"Is that what it is?" Cliff continued. "Is it just one man? Have you been whoring around the whole county?"
The accusation infuriated Marie. No one but Cliff had touched her, before their wedding or since. She was terrified of him in this position, but she had to retaliate to that attack on her character. With will and determination she reached up and slapped his cheek, "How dare you?" she spat. "You know I didn't betray you."
Cliff put a hand to his cheek, and infuriated, grabbed her wrist as she tried to walk away. "You'll pay for that bitch! But first," he rubbed his hands together. "First, you'll give me a taste of what the others have been enjoying."
With that, Cliff brought his mouth down hard against hers, forcing his tongue in between her teeth. Marie tried to fight him, but he over powered her with his strength. Slipping one hand behind her knees, he carried her up to their bedroom and through her on their bed.
Cliff moved to climb on top of Rogue but though the better of it. He didn't want her, used good, he was too good for someone's sloppy seconds. Instead, he moved and pulled the phone out of the wall. "I'll get it out of you," he said in a calm voice. "Eventually. Until then," he threatened as he moved towards the door. "You can stay in here and rot, for all I care."
End
